I always enjoy books by Sarah J. Naughton, as always this was very atmospheric and kept me thoroughly gripped.

Wow this book was awesome. A dark and twisted psychological thriller that had me sucked in from the first chapter, a well deserved 5⭐️ Read. Just brilliant,

The Other Couple by Sarah J Naughton is a twisted psychological thriller with a brilliant opening chapter which ensures the reader keeps turning those pages.

4.5/5

A dark, twisty psychological thriller set in paradise.

Asha wakes up in a Vietnamese hospital but she has been left for dead on the holiday of a lifetime after a night-time swim in the picturesque So Den Caves. We flashback to her fairytale wedding with Ollie, where a mystery guest puts in motion a change of events that will lead to murder. Unable to come to terms with the police's version of events, Amber returns to the scene of the crime. She remembers that there was another couple during the night of the murder. And the killer is still out there..........

Well, where do I start........I didn't like it, I absolutely LOVED it. A really twisty, turny and tense psychological thriller set on a beautiful island near Vietnam with picturesque views, a paradise where Asha and Ollie are going to have the honeymoon of their dreams but when Asha wakes up in a hospital in Vietnam with no recollection of what happened or how she got there and doesn't know where her husband, Ollie is??

The chapters alternate between their wedding day and their time on their honeymoon where it builds the story and each chapter reveals a little more of the story where you just know that there is something not right between Asha and Ollie but what exactly is it and why is Ollie acting so strange??

Just when you think you've worked out where the book is going and then another twist gets thrown into your path and you furiously read faster to find out which way it's going to go BUT I didn't expect that shocker of the twist to bring us to that ending. This is Sarah's second novel, the first been Tattletale which I haven't got around to reading yet but I definitely will and I look forward to reading more from Sarah. I would also love to see this optioned for a TV series. Go and get this book and settle down on the couch with a cup of tea/wine and some chocolate, you won't want to put it down once you've started and you definitely won't be disappointed.

My Review: 4/5

While honeymooning in Vietnam, Ollie is killed. Asha wakes up in a hospital, not able to remember anything about the accident. Was is an accident? Did someone murder him? Asha is determined to find out.

The book started out slow for me. As we are being introduced to various other vacationers at the resort, I felt the the descriptions blended together almost in a confusing way. At first it was a little difficult for me to decipher who everyone was. The story was told in present and past tense, hoping back and forth. While I normally love this type of storytelling, in this book, I had to pay close attention to the dates and locations or I was completely lost. That was the first half of the book.

Now fast forward to the second half. To me, this was the best part. Even though the first part was slow and tended to drag on, the second part was mysterious and partly action-packed. The truth about Ollie’s death slowly becomes unraveled as Asha begins to remember bits and pieces of the event. As she encounters the people from the resort, she starts to question everyone. Everywhere she turns she feels as though she is being followed, and can’t figure out who to trust. The suspense was exciting.

Get past the slow start of this one…you won’t be disappointed.

The story is very well plotted out and I found myself suspicious of all the various characters introduced throughout the book. Trust no one! The conclusion where I found out all the answers to all my burning questions I had throughout the book came about in a manner I really wasn’t expecting.

This was a great, unpredictable, well thought out read and I thoroughly recommend to any reader who likes to be kept on the edge of their seat.

Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoyed Naughton’s debut novel, Tattletale, which is a well plotted psychological thriller. I’m afraid I found The Other Couple by comparison rather disappointing.
The story has 3 POVs: one follows the protagonist as she wakes up in a hospital in Vietnam with no memories of what happened, the second goes back in time to her honeymoon leading up to the events of the hospital, and the third follows the day of her wedding. While the premise and the setting of a luxurious resort in Vietnam was a compelling one, I’m afraid for me the characters and the writing just weren’t engaging. In the end this was another who-is-the-man-i-married-really?-I-thought-I-knew-him.

I love the cover for this book and I was completely draw in by the blurb – I can honestly say that I thoroughly enjoyed being able to relax in the sunshine and read this one – it was a great summer read and would be excellent to read on a holiday!

I thought the setting for the book was fab! I love a good psychological thriller and this one was set at a great pace, it had well developed characters and a great plot line. I enjoyed the suspense that was build up as the story progressed and it did have me really guessing at times.

Four stars from me for this one – a very enjoyable story!! Highly recommended!!

Addicting! Complex! Atmospheric!

How well do you know the person you just vowed to spend the rest of your life with? That is the question that Asha is asking herself when she wakes up in the hospital with no memory of what has happened and no sign of her new husband Ollie... this was an addictive fast-paced psychological thriller that I could not put down! Asha is a tremendously likable and sympathetic character and I found myself needing to know what in the world was going on!

Asha and Ollie are on their honeymoon in paradise after a fairytale wedding... but something is not right, Ollie wants to spend more time with others then his new wife... is the honeymoon already over? Why is Ollie behaving so strangely? Told from two different timelines the fairytale wedding in London and the honeymoon on the beaches of Vietnam... Asha struggles to find out why her fairytale has turned into a nightmare.... I was suspicious of everyone... Paradise was filled with suspicious and unlikable characters, that is for sure!

This was a well plotted twisty psychological thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat... so descriptive and atmospheric that I could feel the heat of the Vietnam beaches and smell the salt of the ocean... I could also feel the tension that emanated from those beaches.... The conclusion to this story the who, the what, and the Y, was crazy and the absolute twistiest! Loved it!

Absolutely recommend when you’re looking for a compulsive, complex, atmospheric, and twisty psychological thriller!

*** many thanks to Orion Publishing for my copy of this book ***

Early on in this book I got a bit worried, I was concerned that it was all going to be a little bit obvious. There have been other books recently set on small, exclusive islands where the dream holiday doesn’t quite go to plan (if you like that sort of thing try The Honeymoon by Tina Seskis or 37 Hours by J.F. Kirwan), and I hoped that this wasn’t going to be similar.

Thankfully it isn’t. The main character, Asha, is very different to what you would expect. She’s a woman who came from an estate with little money who married Ollie, an incredibly rich business man with more than a few enemies. They head to Vietnam for their dream holiday, or at least it is what Ollie thinks is Asha’s dream holiday, but we know from the start that all doesn’t end well as the book starts with Asha in the hospital, unable to remember what happened and how she got there.

What I liked about The Other Couple was that it really highlighted how ostentatious luxury resorts are, but also how fake it all is. The staff who are trained to treat the guests as royalty but who get paid very little, who lose their bonuses because a guest decided that they didn’t like something that the staff did. Or the guests who pretend to be something that they aren’t, with many motives for doing so. All the guests played a part in the story and they were all hiding something. It was cleverly done. The only thing that grated on me was Asha’s obsession with sex!

While The Other Couple isn’t an especially well written book it is one that I really enjoyed reading. I got into the story and wanted to know what was going to happen. It was an easy read and didn’t take me long to finish and work out what actually happened on what was meant to be a dream honeymoon.

I received a copy of The Other Couple by Sarah J Naughton from Trapeze via Netgalley. I was under no obligation to review the book and all thoughts are my own.

Enjoyable, but not quite up to the heady standard that Tattletale set. I found the dual timeline a little confusing.

Wow!! Cancel whatever you’ve got planned. Switch off your phone. Make sure the takeout menu’s are in easy reach!! Once you start this one, you’re not going to do anything else until you’ve read it right to the very last page!!

Asha wakes up in hospital with no recollection of how she got there. She remembers marrying Ollie, the man of her dreams, and she knows they were supposed to be going on an idyllic honeymoon, but can’t even remember if they ever reached their destination.

The plot unfolds by way of 3 alternating timelines: present day, the actual honeymoon itself, and the time before that, leading up to and including the wedding.

It’s clear from the start that all is not well in Ollie’s world. He’s distracted, strangely exhausted (although it all seems to manifest as one long, never-ending hangover), extremely tense and completely physically detached from his new wife. All the exact opposite of how a man on honeymoon should be behaving. His behaviour starts to impact Asha’s already heightened anxiety and a chain of events that has been set in motion long before she was even aware of them, begins to erode her already delicate balance.

Throw in a mix of rather shady guests at what’s supposed to be a Utopian honeymoon destination, one which Asha finds increasingly sinister, and the scene is set for an exciting read. I kept wildly guessing after every couple of pages, and honestly didn’t see whatever was coming next!

This is a taut, nail-biting read that will have you constantly looking over your shoulder (behind doors, inside cupboards …) and maybe also a little closer at those closest to you who you may think you know so well!!

This one gets 4.5 shiny, bold stars from me!!

This is a fantastic psychological thriller that is highly engaging. I enjoyed Sarah Naughton’s previous novel, Tattletale, but in my opinion, I think her second is even better. It is easily a one-sitting read, and the characters and the plot will keep you gripped right the way through. I loved it.

When we first meet Sarah’s main character, Asha, she is waking up in hospital in Vietnam, unaware of what has happened to her or how she ended up there. I love a novel told across dual time lines, and this was what made this book really gripping as Sarah continued to slowly reveal the truth about what has happened to Asha and her new husband. And as she does this, we begin to see a dark story unfold. It was very well plotted, and I liked how Sarah delved into Asha’s and Ollie’s characters as she unpicked their lives. It definitely kept me turning the pages.

What I thought was done really well was how Sarah managed to capture the honeymoon setting. I could easily picture the tropical scenery and the luxury of the resort. Asha was a character who I connected with straight away, and I think this was because she is very different to the other guests that feature in the book and that this world is completely new to her. You understand this when she is referring to previous holidays that she has been on with former boyfriends, but she talks about how they formed some really good memories. Her new husband, Ollie was mysterious, and straight away I was wondering what was going on in his world, what was causing him to be so distant to his new wife? There were a number of different scenarios playing around inside my head, but Sarah took the novel in a completely different direction to what I thought was going to happen. The other guests who are sharing the resort with them were all intriguing, and I don’t think that there will be many readers who find them likeable at all. It does feel as though they are part of an elite club which Asha will have to work very hard to be a part of. Sarah kept me intrigued as I continued to ask questions about what was happening in their lives.

What I thought was poignant about Sarah’s writing was how she reminded us that just around the corner from the luxury Ollie and Asha are enjoying, was a poverty-stricken country and she also highlights the corruption in the police force which was disturbing to read about.

The Other Couple was an addictive, twisty read. If you’re looking for a thriller that you can quickly sink into, then I highly recommend it. Thank you to Tracy Fenton for inviting me to take part in the blog tour.

Asha wakes up in a hospital in Vietnam with no recollection of how she got there or what happened. Something is obviously very wrong. Where’s her husband? What happened that caused their honeymoon to derail so dramatically?

To find out, the author takes us on a trip from London to Vietnam, from Asha’s wedding day to her honeymoon and to having to deal with the aftermath. Asha needs to dig deep to find out the truth in a world she’s never quite belonged. A world of the rich and privileged, a world where money talks and people seem to be able to get away with anything. Asha comes from a far different background and also has the “wrong” skin colour. She’s not exactly welcomed with open arms.

From the first day of the honeymoon, the cracks begin to show as Asha’s new husband Oliver acts rather strangely. Is he merely tired? Is he already tired of her? Or is there something else going on? Asha and Oliver spend a lot of time with other tourists, none of them particularly likeable in my opinion. In fact, it made me feel like the best holidays are those in the middle of nowhere with not another person in sight. 😄

Sarah J. Naughton kept me guessing from the chilling prologue right until the end, when I had all but exhausted my list of potential suspects, ruling them out one by one. Even on the glorious beaches of Vietnam, there is a constant threatening vibe and at times, I was almost holding my breath expecting something to happen. Paradise suddenly felt incredibly claustrophobic, creating a fantastic contrast between something pretty and something ugly.

The Other Couple is a deliciously twisty tale of grief and revenge. A story that had me trying really hard to figure out the pieces of the puzzle but ultimately left me baffled. This is a psychological thriller that oozes atmosphere and will leave you suspicious of everyone.

I loved Sarah J Naughton's previous book, Tattletale, but The Other Couple.......wow! This book is amazing. With this one, Naughton has, in my opinion, cemented her place in the psychological thriller hall of fame.

Asha is a Londoner who grew up without any particular privileges and had to work hard to get where she is. She works as a journalist and her work brings her into contact with Ollie Graveney, the man she will marry. He's very upper crust, very rich and completely different to Asha but they fall in love and have a lavish wedding and a very lavish honeymoon in an exclusive Vietnamese resort.

Vietnam is where the book starts with Asha in hospital with no memory of what has happened to put her there. From there the book flits around a lot between the hospital, the wedding and the honeymoon. A certain amount of concentration is required to keep up but if you can you will be rewarded by an incredibly twisty and well-plotted story.

From the beginning of the honeymoon there is a strong sense, both for Asha and for me as the reader, that something isn't right. Ollie is behaving out of character and Asha keeps seeing things that put the wind up her. To be honest, it started to put the wind up me too, especially when I was reading at night. It's all a bit sinister and a bit scary at times.

The other guests at the resort all fell under suspicion for me. David and Sophie are the people who seem to be on the same wavelength as Ollie but is all as it seems with them? What about the Mulgraves - Travis and Caspar? Their relationship seems unconventional, but is there more to them than meets the eye? And then there's Sean, who is on his own and doesn't seem to quite fit into the opulence of the resort. The big strength of this story is the unknown, the sense of foreboding and that something is afoot. The plotting and the eventual unfolding of the truth is brilliant.

I liked Asha a lot. She's gutsy, sharp, brave and clever. She's a really great creation. It was difficult to know who else to like as I didn't trust most of the other characters, but all are well-drawn.

The Other Couple is the perfect thriller. It's tense, exciting and made me say "oh my God" to myself as I was reading. I thought it was absolutely fantastic and a complete page turner. Thrilling stuff indeed.

Asha is on her honeymoon on a luxurious island with her husband Ollie. Ollie has been surrounded by luxury all of his life whereas Asha has had to claw her way up. One day she wakes up to find herself in strange surroundings and is struggling to put the pieces together. She remembers the wedding but not much else. What on earth has happened to her and where is Ollie? The story alternates between the wedding, the honeymoon and Asha in the hospital. One of those tales you dive into and don’t want to let go. The intrigue is there from the start and almost palpable at time. I took to Asha very quickly and felt not only for her predicament but also that she was beginning to feel trapped by the whole luxury of Ollie’s life. She had seen the world in a different way- both physically and mentally and his trappings really didn’t interest her.A mystery, vague clues, a rather dark tale in parts. One that put me in a spin and my brain working overtime to try and reveal what had happened. That said it’s really not one of those books where you can put it together- so very cleverly woven is the story- just as I love it. If you love psychological thrillers that keep you on tenterhooks and that slightly anxious feeling then maybe give this a read. 5* from me.
For more reviews please see my blog http://nickibookblog.blogspot.co.uk/
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(rest of links as part of blog tour)

Fantastic novel. Had me hooked from the start and really loved the way the storyline developed throughout

Thank you to NetGalley and Orion Publishing for this arc in exchange for an honest review.
This is a hard review to write as I was left with mixed feelings when I finished reading this book last night.
On one hand, this book was everything I hope to find in a great psychological thriller. It was a chilling, gripping and intense storyline which kept me guessing until the end, and yes I did enjoy it immensely.
On the other hand, when I finished this book yesterday I was left feeling a little discontented and perplexed. This morning I had a second skim through looking for details that perhaps I missed which would provide me with some explanations. I didn't find the answers I was looking for, so I'm still left with a couple of irritating niggles, which may just be me not reading between the lines. My other criticism, was the depth of the sexual content. I felt it was a little excessive in this genre of book, despite the honeymoon aspect.
Overall though this was an exciting twisty page turner, with plenty of food for thought along the way.

This is a complex atmospheric and dark psychological thriller about a couple that exposes just how little may be known about the person you marry. Asha and Ollie are from different spectrums of the social strata. Asha cannot believe she has snagged such a good looking and wealthy man in Ollie, despite all the disapproval emanating from his family. Having faced difficulties, she is on 3 week honeymoon at a luxury resort in what can only be described as paradise. However, something is wrong, Ollie is going out of his way to avoid her and more intent on socialising with other couples at the resort. Furthermore, Ollie is exhausted and irate, definitely not a happy man as the personal intimacy drops out of his and Asha's relationship. What is going on?

A suspicious Asha finds herself in hospital after being left for dead whilst swimming, with memories that are shaky and Ollie is nowhere to be seen. Asha finds the police explanations of the incident unconvincing, as she tries to find out what is really happening, becoming ever more paranoid and struggling to trust anyone around her. With a narrative that shifts back and forth in time, covering her Cinderella wedding, and more, deceptions and secrets are revealed in this character driven drama. There is plenty of intrigue, twists and murder in this tense and suspenseful intense and compelling story. This is for all those readers who love great twisted psychological thrillers that consume and entertain. Many thanks to Orion for an ARC

Thanks to netgalley for the ARC of this book. After just finishing The girlfriend, I just had to dive into this thrilling book. Asha and Ollie were on holiday in Thailand, when an accident happens, and Asha has no recollection of any events. This was a thrilling and brilliantly written book that I just had to finish. Well done, highly recommended.